A Fantasy Begins: the Legend of Rikku
by Sun Ying
Summary: A woman from another world has the power to reshape the destiny of China and find love along the way; this is her story- the Legend of Rikku. Warnings: AU FFW2/DW fusion
1. Level 1: Arrival

**Title: **A Fantasy Begins- the Legend of Rikku  
**Summary: **A woman from another world has the power to reshape the destiny of China and find love along the way; this is her story- the Legend of Rikku.  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own the DW characters, they are based off of historical figures that now belong to Koei, and the Dynasty Warriors series. The characters of FFX 2 are copyright of Square Enix. I neither claim ownership for any characters that are not my own nor do I make money off this story.  
**Ratings: **PG 13 to possible M as the story progresses  
**Warnings:** AU FFX 2/DW fusion, title is a working title and may change as the story progresses, formatting changes and edits may occur as well, slight violence and possible language as story progresses.

**Important Note****:** _"Words that do not yet have a translation between languages are always italicized and underlined."_

**Level One: Arrival  
Battle of Fan Castle

* * *

**

Shouts and the heavy clash of weapons filled the air. All of his own soldiers were dead, and quite possibly his son as well, but Guan Yu was charged with taking Fan Castle and he would hold his own until he drew his final breath. That was likely to be quite soon with the charging soldiers of Wu bearing down on him. The filthy traitors broke the alliance with Shu to aid Wei in their defense against his attack. It was unexpected that anyone would ally themselves with the honorless Cao Cao at this point. The ambitious lord had more than revealed that he intended to conquer all of China for his own reasons and that he was willing to be as ruthless as possible to do so. That Wu would choose to ally with his empire was a display of their fear of Shu, and well should they fear the warriors who served under his sworn brother.

It was for Liu Bei's dream of peace that he and his companions fought and it was for Liu Bei that he would die.

He raised his arms high above his head and brought the wrath of the Blue Dragon raging down upon the heads of the first wave of the swarm. Over and over they came at him like the flood he had tried to set upon the castle. Parry, thrust, slash, blow after blow he dodged and countered. It was too much, there were too many of them and he was growing weary, his movements slowing. Small gashes began to appear on his body where sword tips slipped through his defenses. Grimly he swung his weapon, determined to claim as many lives as possible before his own death. He was the God of War, and even after he fell they would all remember why.

A small warrior with double blades ducked and broke through just as he finished his Musou, the technique he learned to perform even as he learned how to hold his first Moon Blade. A blinding pain in each side and he staggered, dropping to one knee as the world swam for one sickening moment. He looked up into the boyish face topped by a bright red hat of a tactician. Dimly he recognized the young man as the protégé of the two strategists that had served Wu. He couldn't recall the boy's name; it was difficult to think about anything. Strange. Was that regret he saw on the young man's face?

Guan Yu smiled faintly.

"Though I have failed, as a warrior this is a glorious end."

The boy's lips moved but he did not hear what said as a series of loud cracks, like miniature explosions rocked through the air. Wu soldiers began to drop with every thunderous outburst of noise.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

Men scattered before the sudden onslaught, several falling lifelessly to the ground. The boy stared at something over Guan Yu's head in shock. Then he swung his head around to see his men dying. He jerked his blades free, and Guan Yu grunted in pain. The boy didn't notice for he was already running after his fleeing forces.

"Retreat! Pull back, pull back! We must regroup!"

Guan Yu saw nothing else as the world flickered darkly around the edges and then fell away completely.

* * *

"Hey Shinra! Come check this out!" I exclaimed excitedly waving my prize in the air.

The Gullwing's youngest member and resident genius stood up from his console and ambled over toward me. Shinra was shorter than me and always covered from head to toe in his overalls and head gear. Even his hands were always covered by heavy green gloves. Honestly I can't see how he can wear so many layers. I'd _die_ if my clothes were that bulky. He makes the most incredible gadgets though. Still don't see how he does it wearing those gloves of his.

"What is it Rikku?" he asked curiously as I flourished my find around in front of his face.

"It's a record sphere, silly! At least, I _think_ it's a record sphere," I felt my eyebrows draw together, and I had to make a conscious effort not to frown at the sphere in my hand. Tsk, can't be frowning at everything, I'll get lines around my eyes, or end up constantly cranky like Paine.

"Is it? It doesn't look like any sphere I've ever seen."

And it didn't.

Thing about my new sphere is, it's not like the other spheres we've found in the past. This one wasn't bright golden orange, or even obnoxious pink, instead it's a dark green material that I've never seen before, not even translucent the way normal record spheres are. Slow swirls of glowing green run through it, the closest thing to glowing it comes. The point is it looks like a sphere, although it never registered on the sphere-oscillator at all. The fact that I found it at all was a total accident. I was digging in Bikanel and hit a scrap piece of machina. When I pulled the remains of a generator (as the scrap turned out to be) free of the sand, out popped the sphere. See? Total accident.

"Think we can read it?" I asked excitedly.

"Possibly. If it _is_ a record sphere," he answered doubtfully, taking the green orb.

"Let's see if we can get anything from it," I demanded impatiently. Honestly, unless we_ try _something with it we're never going to know! Sheesh.

Wordlessly the boy took the sphere and began the analyzing process. I watched over his shoulder bouncing impatiently from foot to foot. Oooh! Why did this have to take so long? The computer whirs and beeps, lines of light tracing over the outside of the sphere.

"Anything?" I asked excitedly.

"Nothing." My shoulders drooped. "Unless…" I perked up.

"What?" I demand, impatient again. His hands passed over the control station tapping out codes that even as an Al Bhed I couldn't understand.

"Give me a little time. Maybe if I-" he trailed off, muttering to himself.

"Ok, then I'll leave you to it. Hey where're Brother and Buddy?"

"They went to pick up some supplies. We needed to restock the stores." Shinra was already at work trying to get the system to read the orb. "This could take a while, you know."

"Ok, I'm going to hit the deck then. Let me know if you find anything." All I got in return was a grunt and wave. Al Bhed males are all the same. Once they're focused on their toys you can't pull them away. Seriously, it's freaking annoying. And Gippal is the worst. Ok, that sounded slightly bitter, but it wasn't really. Ok, maybe a little bitter, but I'm happy for him. And Nhadala as well. They look great together. And it's not like I was ever in the running; he's always treated me like an annoying kid sister. Even if I'd ever had a real chance with Gip, we would have killed each other in the first week. Too much alike and all that.

It just… stings is all.

Anyways, that's hardly what I want to be brooding about on a day like this. It was so pretty outside. Look at how blue the sky is, and listen to that quiet bustle. Kilika was so peaceful like this, without the threat of Sin, or the constant bickering between factions. Yunie was right, we're all better able to appreciate how beautiful everything is now that the wars have all stopped.

Actually I kinda wish I could call my favorite couples to tell them about my new find, but a) they probably won't want to be bothered and b) we don't know if it is even a sphere that can be read. Sigh. But it was so exciting; I wish I could tell someone. Who though?

Shinra's working on the problem and any excitement over the sphere was lost on him. Brother and Buddy are out gathering stuff. Yunie and Tidus are busy setting up their second house in Besaid. Paine… last time I had heard from her she'd become a mercenary for hire. She was choosey about the jobs she took, but there were plenty of people willing to pay for her skills. Speaking of which, I heard Rin had been hiring her a lot lately. Either he recognizes a fighter with talent when he sees one or he has a thing for our Paine. I will definitely have to tease her about that the next time I see her, whenever that will be. I haven't heard from her since she took her last job, which means she's not finished with it. So telling her is out too.

So that leaves- I blink. Well, no one really. Darn it.

I plop down gracelessly on the edge of the Celsius and watched the bustling town below. That sucked. I get a shiny new sphere and anyone who would be interested in it, wouldn't be at this instant. Except maybe Paine. She might like to come back to the Gullwings for a bit, but she's busy. Luckily before I could get grumpy over not having anyone around I heard the heavy clomp of Shinra's boots against the red metal of our airship. I lean back on my arms and craned my neck to look up at him expectantly.

"Uh Rikku? I managed to get that sphere you found to read. You should watch it," his voice sounded odd as he spoke.

"Oh yeah?" I raised an eyebrow at that. "What's on it?"

"You should see for yourself." His voice didn't lose that weird tone as he spoke.

"Okaaaaay." Excitement bubbled up and I forgot that I wanted to tell anyone else about it. I hopped up from where I was sitting and ran toward the door leaving Shinra to follow after me. "Let's go see! Come on!" I could hear Shinra running after me, his shoes still clanging against the metal hull.

We hit the bridge and Shinra slid into his seat, quickly tapping on keys. I watched the screen closely, eager to see what the mystery sphere has in store.

Static. And then an image struggles to appear, stretching and contracting horribly a couple of times before it stabilizes into a solid picture. I stared.

It was a young man, about my own age, maybe a bit older. He was walking backward down a narrow hallway, looking at whoever was doing the recording. His skin was lightly tanned, and he had beautiful brown hair pulled up in a ponytail on top of his head, bangs falling on either side of his face. And his face was slightly boyish, but very attractive. That pretty face was filled with something that looked like curiosity, and maybe embarrassment. My eyes trailed down over his well built body, taking in the strange garb he had on. His clothing was unlike anything I'd seen any other man wear. The closest thing I could think of that would be similar to what he's wearing is a summoner's robes, but not really, no.

Grayish purple pants with subtle designs of a slightly deeper purple twining along the material fall over the tops of brown boots. Over the pants a half skirt falls, again a deep purple at the top that fades to a lighter one. He wore a deep green vest that falls over the half skirt. It was held closed by red ties in the front, and a dark belt. The white sleeves of the shirt he wears underneath are gathered at his elbows. Bracers graced his wrists, and in his right hand is the wood of what looks like a staff.

If he were here right now in person, well… What? I'm a healthy teenage female; leave me alone. Is it unnatural to feel a tingling spark of interest over someone who might not even exist though? Probably. My internal reprimanding stops the instant he opens his mouth to speak. Huh? That didn't sound like any Spirian language at all. The man laughed nervously. Another voice comes out of the sphere, from someone off screen. And it sounded… like _I _would, if I spoke whatever they're speaking. Okay, freaky. The man said something in response, and rolled his eyes. The me sound-a-like says something else.

"Rikku!" the strange man laughed in protest; he blushed. The sphere cuts out.

I wonder if this was how Yunie felt when she thought the sphere of Shuyin was Tidus? I blinked up at Shinra, who's hovering over me nervously.

Funny, I don't remember sitting down.

"Are you finished freaking out yet?" Shinra asked.

"It's a fake. I don't even know what language they were speaking. What kind of gibberish is that anyway?"

"I'm not really sure. But I think I can design a system that will let you find out," Shinra spoke thoughtfully. "It can't function as a dress sphere, but since we don't know the language, I think I might be able to devise a new grid network and make a language sphere for you if you want to know what they're saying. It'd take some legwork on your part."

"What kind of legwork?" I asked, staring up at him. I'd stand up, but I'm not sure my legs could hold me right now. Legwork indeed.

"You would need to collect more spheres like this. I can recalibrate the sphere-ocillator to track the energy signals so you can find them. And then you'd be able to figure out what they're saying."

"So these spheres can work kinda like Al Bhed Primers?" I asked with a frown.

"Well, kinda. It'd be more like a mix between primers and the dress sphere system. And you'd have to find a bunch of the spheres to learn it, but that's a pretty good example." Shinra rubbed the back of his head. "Could take me a little while to make the new grid though."

"How long before you can trace these spheres?" I wondered out loud.

"A couple of hours maybe."

"Ok. Let me know when you get it adjusted and have a lock on a new sphere. I think I'm just going to ah, sit here for a little while."

"Um, 'kay." With a shrug our little genius set to work, completely forgetting my existence within seconds. I sat there, with my mind tumbling over what I had seen in the orb.

* * *

"Hey Rikku!" Shinra's voice interrupts my brooding thoughts. "I've got a lock on a new sphere. Want to go check it out?"

"Where?" I asked eagerly. It had been two months since I found that first green sphere. I have eight of them so far. In the interim I have managed to learn more and more of the strange language. Not all of the orbs I found have had the first man on them, but several of them do. Some of the other people have been a big man with a long black beard, another man in a white dress, an older guy dressed kinda like my mystery man. Actually now that I think about it, they're all older than my mystery man. He looks like he's as late as mid twenties in some of the spheres, or as young as me in others.

I now could understand the gist of what he was saying in that first sphere. He was asking, erm Rikku, what it was she was up to, and what she was holding. The 'sphere Rikku' says something to the effect of that she's capturing his hotness for future generations to envy her over. He says she's delusional, or crazy… the implications are clearer than the word itself, if she thinks anyone would envy her, and rolls his eyes. She says something to the effect that they should since he's her man and she gets to have him every night. He says my name- er, _her_ name with a blush, and the sphere ends.

Ever since the first reading, seeing the strange man and hearing him speak to someone who sounds like me and has my name, I've slowly become obsessed. Ok, scratch that. I don't slowly do anything; I immediately became obsessed and have since steadily grown worse. I live for the moment that I find a new sphere, that I learn a new word. And, as sad as it is to admit, get to stare at _him_. I still don't know his name.

I know when I first got the sphere that I wanted to tell my friends that I found a new type of sphere for everyone to hunt. I guess I was hoping that everyone would get excited and we could all get together for another adventure. Now though… now I want to cradle the spheres I have and never let anyone else know about them. I don't know why, but I want discovering what it means to belong to me alone. That's why I haven't talked to anyone on the commspheres or contacted any of my friends recently.

Shinra sees the spheres with me because he's the one who has the technology to read them, but I'm the only one with the language grid, so I'm the only one who can make out what any of them say. This is my treasure, my quest. Buddy and Brother go along with it because they have nothing better to do, but they don't care, as long as I fund the whole expedition. I fight enough fiends to keep us rolling in gil when I track these babies down. Have to fight the monsters to get to learn the language and all that, ya know?

"This one seems to be in the ocean off the coast of Besaid."

"Well, let's go then," I bounced impatiently. I need that sphere right now! Buddy shrugged agreeably and Brother yelled something about how he is the leader and he will say when we leave.

"Alright! Gullwings, move out!" he gestures wildly.

I rolled my eyes. Stupid. He hadn't even noticed that Buddy was already pulling away from the ground and heading for our next destination. Oh well, whatever makes him feel better. I settled down passenger side and proceeded to ignore my brother's posturing. Soon, I'll have another sphere. I lean back in my seat and stare unseeing at the orb screens flashing in front of me. I wonder if _he_ will be on this one or if it'll be one of those other people.

Finally we arrived. I debate going to see my friends first since I know several of them are there at the moment, but… I want that next sphere! I'll go see them as soon as I find it. I'm sure they'll understand. Right.

I'm already wearing my thief sphere, sans the scarf and arm warmers, which are in the accessories compartment of my item sphere so I don't have to worry about my limbs getting all tangled in my clothes while I swim. I wonder if I'll ever be able to pull a dress sphere from one of these recordings? I have yet to see any with a female in it. Shinra thinks that's why he hasn't pulled enough data for me to have a dress sphere from the green spheres. I wonder how a female of their people dresses. I check that all of my items and dress spheres are ready to go just in case I run into trouble, however unlikely that is. Yep, everything is there and I'm ready.

"Ready to go Rikku?"

"Yep! Ready!"

"_**Good then**_**.** I will go to see with Yuna _**while you are busy**_ and to tell her that you will be along shortly. _**Be quick**_," Brother admonished, his words slipping from the human tongue to Al Bhed and back without his even noticing.

That was something we were going to have to work on harder. Still I really was proud of the effort he had put into learning a completely new language. Something we have in common, it's the little things that prove that we are really related. You know, blond hair, swirly green eyes, and a burning drive to learn an entire language for someone you'll never have a chance with. I shook my head wryly.

"Let her know I'll be there as soon as I finish up downside."

I gave my fellow Gullwings a snappy salute and dove out of the hatch into the cool blue green waters of the ocean. Down and down I went, white bubbles tickling along my cheeks as I swam deeper. Without being able to respond to Shinra's urgings I concentrated to keep my breathing deep and regular. Didn't want to blow my lungs at this depth because I lost my rhythm. The mic in my ear crackled and I let Shinra guide me as best as possible to try and get me as close as to the signal as he can. I swam down as deeply as I can, listening to Shinra's directions as I went. Left. Left. Deeper. No a bit to the right. I'm almost touching the ocean floor by now. Argh! There's nothing there! I turn my head to try and glare at the surface. As I do something dark catches my eyes. I swam a bit closer to have a look. Bubbles floated up in front of my face making it difficult to see. Impatiently I reach out my hands to feel what is there.

Nothing.

A cave? The opening is rather narrow though. Still, nothing is going to stop me. I'm a woman on a mission! I push my hands into the opening and grab the slightly jagged edges of the small opening to start pulling myself through. I wince when my shoulder scrapes against the ceiling. A hint of red floats along the small eddies of water.

Owie.

Moving cautiously I felt along my way. My shoulder is still bleeding slightly, right above the strap of my top and my fingertips are getting covered in scrapes. I start to wish I'd worn more than my bikini and skirt and fingerless gloves now, but we didn't have any wet suits on hand. I typically wear my sphere suits so I never bothered to bring any of my clothes from home with me on the Celsius. The salt water stings and the cuts are throbbing in irritating pain, bad enough to be distracting but not bad enough to really get whiny about. But if the alternative was bashing my head in against the twisting walls or ceilings I'd take the scrapes, thank you very much.

I think I see a soft light through the water up ahead and tried to speed up a bit, heading toward it. My palms brushed against a wall, and I walk my hands up the side until my head breaks the surface. Ugh. I'm going to have to re-braid my hair when I get back onboard. And its going to be a hassle trying to pull my goggles off with it all tangled like this. I tread the water for a moment and breathe deeply. I place my chin against the narrow ledge of the wall and gaze ahead. There… there is my prize. A soft green pulse greets my gaze, and I felt myself grinning like mad. The mic crackled painfully for a moment.

"Rikku, you alright?" Buddy's calm voice sounded in my ear.

"She's right on top of the signal. She probably has it in her hands right now. If she's got the space she's doing a happy dance as we speak," Shinra's voice ccame from the background. Buddy chuckled. I stuck my tongue out at the both of them. They couldn't see it but it's the principle of the thing. I sniff, but they aren't what is important right that second. I stretched out my fingers toward the sphere, tongue clasped between my teeth; it was just out of reach. I huff in frustration. I prop my elbow up on the ledge and dragged my body up, grunting slightly when the rough rock dug into my stomach. Yay, more scratches to add to my collection, but again, the scratches are not what is important and I have plenty of potions to take care of them once I'm back on land. I reach for it again. Again my fingers can't quite reach it. I _will_ have this sphere. I glare accusingly as though it's purposely staying just beyond my reach but I kept grabbing for it. "I don't have it in hand but it's right here in front of me. I'll be up in a few just… as soon… as…. I-"

A blinding flash of light startles me so much I fell back into the water sphere gripped tightly to my chest with one arm the other flung up to protect my eyes. Blue water deepens into an overwhelming blackness. The blackness enveloped me as I sank and flashes of green, flickering pyreflies, swirl around me. Even the pyreflies fade. The sphere was a boulder in my hands dragging me down into the endless dark.

* * *

Something was tickling me. I wrinkled my nose. I bat it away from my face but it just falls right back onto my nose more irritating than ever. With a grumble I rolled my head away from the annoying feeling. Doing so simply tickled my face even more as there is now several more of whatever it was brushing against my face. Irritated I crack open an eye. Green stalks of water weeds waver through my field of vision. Why are there water weeds on my face? I raised my head to look around. Weeds, weeds, clear blue sky, forest off on the side and a track of a dirt road past where I was now sitting up. I have been lying in a ditch that holds more weeds that water. Taking a moment to get stock of myself, I still had the sphere in my hands. I can't believe I've managed to keep my grip on it for as long as… well however long I have been lying there I guess. I drop it into my items. After rolling onto my knees I was about to stand up when I found myself staring into the brown eyes of a large beast.

My hand gripped the handle of one of my daggers and then I froze, confused. A… a fiend? But it wasn't attacking me, didn't even seem threatening. I lowered my weapon cautiously. It was a strange looking creature with a squared head and wide shoulders. It has spindly legs that didn't seem like they should be able to hold the animal's great weight. It had a muzzle with large nostrils that quivered as it sniffed the air toward me. Muscles twitched beneath its white and brown fur, and a thin tail swished lazily in the air behind it, swatting at the strange tiny insects. It stared at me with a blank expression as though wondering why I was sitting in its ditch. Quite suddenly it lets out a strange cry that has me jumping back a step.

_"Mooooo!"_

"Gyaaah!"

My dagger raised and I wondered if my earlier assessment was completely wrong. Maybe this was a fiend who could lull you into thinking it was innocent and then turn into a ravening beast that would snap your body in half with a single bite. But the creature stepped away with a look of vague alarm at my reaction. We stared at each other for a few moments more. Then the creature apparently decided that I wasn't a threat to it because it lowered its long neck to lean over and lip at the grassy weeds along the bank of the ditch. I backed away without taking my eyes off of it. It apparently was not aggressive but I felt unnerved by the strange creature nevertheless.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud. Unfortunately there is no one there to answer me. A glance at myself decided that the first thing to do is find a place to wash up. Yucky. Another glance around showed that aside from the road there is no sign of civilization in any direction, so there was no clue as to what direction I should travel to get what I want; namely a well stocked bathroom and some answers. What was that really old quote? If you don't know where you are going then it doesn't matter which direction you head? Something like that anyway and there was a certain truth to the statement at the moment. I had no idea where I was so I lost nothing by choosing a direction. I put my weapon away and give a short nod. With that decided I skirt around the … whatever that thing was and took off down the dirt track.

Several days later I found myself wondering if that logic was really all that logical. There were no people that I have come across in the past few days of wandering through this forest. I haven't even seen any fiends. I at least found a small spring to clean up in. An occasional water spell works to keep clean when a spring isn't handy, but I hate cold water baths. I would weep with joy if I could find a save orb. One of the white orbs that healed your hurts and recorded memory of your passage were scattered around all of Spira were suspiciously missing, and left me with no way of contacting Buddy or Brother or Shinra. And my mic wasn't responding no matter how many times I tried it.

Oooh, I would kill for a proper hot shower and a real bed. The next thing on that list would be a choco fried steak. I had been reduced to using my guns to catch local wildlife, skinning them with my blades, and cooking them with my magic. It was tricky at first since the little critters around here are so quick, but I finally got the hang of it. I was a bit worried about whether the animals here were edible but, hunger overruled caution and the gamble paid off. Mmmm camping. I feel almost like I'm back on the Thunder Plains. Except then I had the travel agency to stock up on food with before hand, and I could leave at any moment. Though there was a bright side to this situation- the sphere! I couldn't believe it! That last sphere was a dress sphere! It's called the Shu Sphere. I had no idea what a Shu was, but the outfit was cute. And I couldn't wait to try out this Musou ability. It sounds too cool. Too bad there were no fiends around to try it out on.

Wait a minute… I cocked my head, lowering the samurai robe I was holding over my head as a sort of makeshift umbrella against the light rain. What was that sound? Screaming? I pause, trying to track the source. I turned toward the sound and kept walking. There were men's voices yelling, harsh clangs and screams… a battle. There was a battle going on… I pull the robe back over my head and start to run toward the battle.

* * *

He was lying on something hard. Dark eyes cracked open and rolled around, evaluating. A series of rafters stretched over head. Moving cautiously he pushed up onto his elbows and then into a sitting position. He was in a base on the battlefield beyond Fan Castle, which was visible through the open gates. But why wasn't he even bleeding? A quick inspection of his person and he decided a better question was why was he still alive? He had a very distinct memory of being stabbed by the little Wu officer, with both blades in fact. He stood up to examine himself more fully. The proof was in the various rents in his robes. He rubbed the unmarred flesh through the hole on his side in wonder.

Quite suddenly a cheerful feminine voice rang out on his other side, the one he was not examining and he whipped his head around toward the sound. A strange young woman stepped into his line of sight with a bright grin. He stared.

The girl wore an outfit that vaguely resembled the common dress of the female soldiers of Shu. The green over skirt was the style that the women wore over their trousers, one that had a front panel and a back panel belted about the waist, but left the pants showing along the side. Except she wasn't wearing a pair of pants- or perhaps they were pants. They were purple pants that had been cut off at the seam of her thighs as near as he could tell and they left her legs bare from hip to her boots. She wore a green short sleeved vest that parted at the bottom to reveal the purple undershirt. Her top ended above her ribs and revealed the smooth plane of her stomach. Slender arms were wrapped with orange material from her elbows to the backs of her hands and matched the orange trimming along her collar, and the sash about her waist. She wore the colors of Shu, but he was quite certain there had never been a solider that looked like her to ever enter their army. While female soldiers were allowed in his brother's army provided they can prove themselves, there was no way any of them would wear their clothing the way she was. In fact, there wasn't a single woman in China who would dress the way she was, or who had hair like that. As yellow as gold it fell in a cascade of wild spikes over her shoulders, with small beaded braids around the top of her head, all held back by a blue headband.

So who was she? Was she a witch or a guardian spirit? Whatever she was she somehow was responsible for the fact that he was alive when he should by all rights be dead, and that was a debt he would not be able to ignore. She spoke again, a strange tongue unlike anything he had ever heard before. He blinked at her.

She cocked her head and then seemed to realize that he was unable to understand her.

"How are you feel?" she asked with obvious concern. She was not a native speaker- that much was clear.

"I am well now. Thank you," he answered back. When she frowned at him in confusion he repeated himself more slowly.

She brightened. Apparently she had understood him that time. He pointed to himself.

"My name is Guan Yu," he spoke slowly again. The pointing was a big clue for she seemed to realize what he said.

"My naymah iss Guan Yu," she repeated back, "Nice to see you."

Apparently he had exaggerated his words too much when he was trying to slow his speech. He paused, wondering if she thought his full name was 'My name is Guan Yu.'

He pointed to himself and this time simply said, "Guan Yu."

She exclaimed, and lightly smacked her own forehead, and once again repeated his words, "Guan Yu." Then she pointed to herself. She had a look of concentration on her face as she made an effort to echo his early greeting.

"My naymah iss Rikku." She looked pleased with herself.

He pointed to her, "Rikku."

She nodded.

"It is pronounced, 'My name is Rikku.' " he tried to explain, but he wasn't sure if this was going to improve things or make matters worse since he was throwing new words into the mix.

"My name is Rikku," she said.

He nodded his approval, and stroked his beard in thought. She seemed quite quick, and she already knew a bit of the language. As long as he remembered that he needed to be patient while she worked to understand him they should be able to communicate.

She cocked her head again.

"Why did those men fight at you?"

" 'Why did those men attack you?' " he corrected her words. Again she repeated his correction with a graceful acceptance of his teaching.

"There is a war going on. Those men were soldiers on the opposing forces." He couldn't think of a more simplified explanation than that and hoped she would understand.

"War," she repeated. "Fighting with other people?" She suddenly seemed sad. "My land had peace at last. Now I am in land with more fighting. It makes me hurt to think on it."

"I'm sorry. There is nothing that can be done to correct the problem until somebody wins," he answered gruffly. It was doubtful she would understand everything he said, but the pain being caused by the ongoing war was not something he felt like delving into. Especially with someone who didn't understand the details.

"I must go to the castle," he announced in the established slow pattern, along with gestures toward the giant stone building in the distance. "My duty is to claim it for my lord." Then he thought about it another moment and expanded on what he already told her. "I must go fight the men in that castle."

"Castle. That is named a castle? You go to fight? I will go with you. I can fight, I have my _dress__spheres_."

Guan Yu didn't recognize the strange word, but the girl said she could fight so this _dress spheres_ was doubtlessly her weapon. Still, it was not a good idea to bring a woman into battle when you were uncertain what she was capable of, especially a young one. Bringing a young woman that you didn't know well and who had a language barrier was an even worse idea. He shook his head in the negative.

"No," he said firmly.

She scowled up at him with her hands on her hips.

"I will go with you. I will not be left behind. I can fight also, and I will not lose seeing you," she informed him severely. Then she grabbed the spear that was leaning against the wooden wall of the base they were standing in. His own weapon had been placed next to it, and now stood alone. He gave her a considering glance when he realized that she must have put the weapon there herself. And they were not near where he had fallen in battle. His weapon was quite heavy, and few of the soldiers in his company had ever been able to use it, those that had been able to pick it up at all that is. If it came to that, how had she moved _him _while he was unconscious? And just _how_ was he still alive and uninjured?

"The correct words are, 'I will not lose sight of you' and you will stay close to me at all times if you come with me," he spoke in an irritated voice. Whether she got his words or not, she definitely recognized his capitulation on the matter because she gave him a smug smile.

"You will not regret. I am good."

"We shall see," he said repressively. He would never forgive himself if the girl came to harm while under his care, so he sincerely hoped she was as good as she thought she was. But he really had no choice in the matter. Actually what he should do is return to Shu and report Wu's treachery, but he had sworn that he would take Fan Castle or die trying. He still had to take the castle and his entire troop had been decimated when Wu had joined the battle. Seeing as he was quite alive, and felt as well as he did at the beginning of the battle he had no excuse to leave the battle field. If she really could fight then he would need her help to win. Besides walking up to the castle after so many soldiers had watched him suffer what should have been fatal wounds was something that would give him a slight advantage.

The two set off to the castle, Guan Yu adjusting his stride to allow Rikku to better keep up with him. She still had to practically trot but she didn't complain about it. Soon they approached the main gate, a small crowd of soldiers nervously holding their weapons at the ready. They watched the two of them approach, closer and closer. One finally broke. Letting out a terrified scream, the soldier fled. The action seemed to get to them all because soon another joined him, and then another until the guard captain stood alone and trembling in front of the large wooden doors.

"Are you sure they fight?" Rikku asked dubiously as they walked closer.

Guan Yu glanced down from his towering height over the small woman-child, and could think of no response that would adequately express his scorn for the fleeing men. She caught his gaze after them and seemed to understand what he thought about soldiers abandoning their posts without orders. She gave him an impish grin that he was coming to recognize as a normal expression for her and skipped ahead toward the gate captain. The man moaned about an evil witch of Shu and he held his shaking spear up and jabbed it toward her in a threatening manner. She paused to raise a finger and wag it admonishingly at him. Then she said something in her strange language and lunged forward, knocking his weapon aside with a sharp twirl of her own spear and catching him across the head with the blunt end. He went down. The man would have a headache, and likely a large lump for his pains, but he would live.

Apparently Rikku spoke the truth. She could fight but she was willing to be moved to pity. That was something he would have to keep an eye on. Certainly he could be accused of something similar, but it was different when a debt was owed. Leaving enemies at your back in a war, especially ones in authority, however insignificant the position may seem was a bad idea if you owed them nothing. But now was not the time to get into that. They kept walking through the now open gate, several more men scattering before them. A few stood to challenge them but between his self and the girl they never stood a chance. Taking out the officers caused the foot soldiers to flee.

They reached the main hall of the castle to discover that Cao Ren standing there alone. He gazed upon the two of them, and Guan Yu had to wonder at the sight they must have made. The towering giant with the flowing beard and the tiny golden haired woman who barely came up to his rib cage; they must seem a strange pair.

"I have been waiting, Guan Yu."

"I must apologize then, for not arriving sooner," the larger man rumbled.

"Wei will win this war, and we will put an end to the chaos. Cao Ren shall serve as the shield that protects humanity. Defeat me, or die!" he bellowed in challenge. The stocky man shifted his stance until he appeared ready to charge them at any moment.

Rikku mutters something disparaging in her own language, then again tilted her head up to look questioningly at Guan Yu.

"I think I understand what he says. He is seeming funny. Is his head right?"

"Thatis debatable," Guan Yu answered with a small smile that he aimed at Cao Ren, who was choking on his outrage at the girl's question. Really Guan Yu grew fonder of Rikku every second.

The insult was apparently too great for the man leaped forward buckler blade at the ready; thick legs pumping as he bore down on the two of them. As he drew close, a familiar light flared around the girl and she launched herself forward to meet his rush. Her spear spun about in spinning patterns that caught Cao Ren repeatedly, both with the blunt end and with the business end of her spear, after images burning the air as she moved, too fast to follow. Guan Yu found himself staring yet again.

How in all of China did this girl who couldn't even speak the language have learned the Musou technique?

Her Musou energy flared once more, disappearing. She fell back into a defensive crouch, waiting for Cao Ren to gain his feet. His armor was such that he took less damage than most when attacked, but even he was showing signs of having been battered. There were several scratches and a couple dents in the deep blue armor that he wore. Along his left cheek there was a gash that followed the line of his helmet, and very nearly reached his eye. A red stain began to spread over his shoulder from beneath the small gap at the joint of his armor. Soon he gained his feet and he regarded the tiny woman child with considerably more caution this time.

The only problem was now that she had used her Musou to stop his charge it would be at least several minutes before she was able to perform it again, and Cao Ren was much larger than she was. She was not armored. She would take considerable damage, if not actually die from one of his first hits, especially if he used his own Musou energy. Once more the Wei general shifted his weight and charged. Rikku twisted her body, agile in evading his attacks. Her own spear lashed out, dancing along the edges of his armor, forcing Cao Ren to keep his buckler between them. They dodged, striking out at each other, defending, and then attacking. Guan Yu wished to step in, but the girl moved quickly and there was no guarantee he would not hit her if he tried to.

Quite suddenly Cao Ren stomped the ground, the force of impact knocking Rikku off of her feet. His blade came down and Guan Yu finally had the opening he needed. The Blue Dragon became a barrier between the blade of Cao Ren's buckler and Rikku's head. The blades inched slowly closer toward Rikku as Guan Yu strained against the leverage Cao Ren had from his angle and momentum for the attack. He shifted his hands on the long wooden handle and jerked his Dragon up, pushing the buckler blade away and throwing Cao Ren off balance.

"Leave the girl out of this. _I_, Guan Yu, will be your opponent," the giant declared in his grand style.

"If that is your wish, then I shall be happy oblige you oh God of War," Cao Ren growled out. He turned from the girl giving all of his attention to Guan Yu.

Rikku stared at the two of them and she squawked something in her language, that didn't need translation for anyone to know she was protesting being left out and ignored.

"Be still!" Guan Yu thundered at her, not taking his eyes off of the Wei general. Cao Ren was by most accounts an honorable warrior, but he was in a desperate situation and there were no witnesses. Frequently the generals of Wei were known more for their loyalty to Cao Cao and for getting the job done by any means, and he couldn't risk giving her more attention. "This is_ my_ battle."

She said something else in her language, sounding as though she was muttering imprecations at his announcement, but she seemed to understand. He noticed her standing up from the corner of his eye and stepping back behind him. Then he had no more attention to spare as Cao Ren was charging once more.

Soon there was the familiar sound of clashing weapons filling the air as the two dodged and struck. Occasional flares of energy rocked through the space they were fighting in. A sharp pain flared in Guan Yu's back when Cao Ren slid past him and spun in an arc, catching him from behind. Guan Yu stumbled forward. Facing Rikku, he could see her horrified face as he caught his balance. He turned in time to deflect Cao Ren's next attack, but before he could retaliate he felt something cold and wet splash across his back, directly into his wound. His back tingled. He jumped away from Cao Ren and turned so he could stare his question at the girl. She simply waved an empty glass vial at him and then pointed to his opponent, reminding him of his fight. He turned back to find Cao Ren staring at him in shock.

"So what my men reported is true. The girl you have at your side is a witch that keeps you safe in combat and heals your wounds."

Startled, Guan Yu felt with one hand along his back. Sure enough, there was no longer a deep gash and the pain was gone. That… explained a lot actually, but now was not the time to dwell on it. He wrapped his hand back around his Blue Dragon, and raised the blade in warning.

"There is no way that I alone can fight you off with a witch at your side," the man spoke in a pale voice. He was still bleeding from Rikku's earlier wounding, and the cuts Guan Yu had managed to inflict himself. The blue armored man looked ready to keel over at any moment. Apparently he had hoped that his attack would end the fight, but now that Guan Yu was healed, all hope had fled. He raised his buckler blade. "Yet I cannot yield."

"You can, as you must. It would be a shame for this land to lose such a staunch defender, and for the friendship that once existed between Cao Cao and myself, this once I will extend the offer of your life. Go now and I will let you leave unhindered," Guan Yu offered, bowing his head in respect for his opponent.

"How can I face my lord with this defeat? Even with Wu we were unable to repel your attack." The man closed his eyes. "Your son was captured. He yet lives. I will release him and the men with him in exchange for the nobleness of your offer."

Guan Yu drew in a sharp breath at the mention of his son.

"Guan Ping is alive? Go now, please. The sooner you return to your men, the sooner my son will be returned to my side."

"It will be as we have agreed. It has… been an honor to face you in combat, God of War."

"It has been an honor for my self as well."

"The next time we meet, I will not falter, and my family's honor will be restored."

"I look forward to the day when I am able to face you across the battlefield once more," Guan Yu responded gravely. Moving slowly, weighed down by defeat, the man made his way toward the door without looking at Guan Yu or Rikku as he passed. Soon the two of them stood alone in the silent castle.

"Eh? You both speak fast. What happened just this time?"

" 'What just happened?'" he corrected absently. "He realized defeat and I let him leave in exchange for my son's life."

"_Defeat?_ _Exchange_? _Son_? What mean these words?" she asked with a frown tugging at her lips.

"He lost the fight. That is what defeat means," Guan Yu explained, searching for words that hopefully she would recognize. "He offered an exchange, a trade. My son is my child and he will be returned to me."

"Son is my… no, son is_ your_ child is correct from me. A _he_ you say…? Um so… he will give you a man that he has in trade for leaving?"

"Yes that is a close enough explanation."

"I understand, I think." She grinned up at him. "We win!"

* * *

While they awaited the release of Guan Ping and his men, Rikku chatted on, asking string after string of question about the castle that they were in. It seemed she was trying to understand exactly what purpose the building served, but Guan Yu could not fathom what she was trying to ask specifically so he was unable to appease her curiosity. She tried to tell him of a place in her world, but the large man could make no sense of her explanation. _Temples?_ _Fayths_? _Spira?_ He had no clue what any of those words mean.

Dark eyes studied her as she ran back and forth across the hall muttering soft exclamations to her self and firing questions in her broken Chinese at him. Guan Yu marveled at her display, torn between exasperation and amusement over her antics. Never had he met another individual that moved with such restless cheer about the place as though she were trying to see everything in the world all at once and was afraid to miss anything. Had he not seen it for himself he would never imagine her capable of fighting with the way she was behaving now. Despite the initial impression given by her… revealing clothes, there was such a naïve and trusting look to her when she turned to ask him one of seemingly endless questions that made her seem quite childlike.

She was nothing human, he was sure of it.

Her strange healing powers and her ability to use a technique that only the strongest of warriors were able to master were unnatural. And then there were her eyes. They were an iridescent green, almost the color of a cat's eye when the light strikes their pupils. And the pupils themselves were also green, a deeper green. However it was not the unusual shade of her pupils that made her eyes so otherworldly, it was the fact that they were swirled. She had to be some sort of guardian spirit trapped in a human form. It explained her curiosity and her innocent wonder at something as simple as the grey stone walls of a castle, the silken wall hangings and the hung weapons. She showed no self consciousness over the amount of her body that was displayed by her clothes, as though it had never occurred to her that she should even concern herself over such matters. When she somehow managed to trip over absolutely nothing, he winced. His conclusion was confirmed. Surely no one who had been born with a human body could manage to be so clumsy.

She gave a soft grunt of pain on impact and blinked owlishly for a moment, and then she let out a startled laugh at her own awkwardness. Rikku tossed her golden hair back over her should and jumped to her feet. She ran back over to Guan Yu to tug on his sleeve.

"Why is your _son_ not here yet?" She placed a heavy emphasis on the word son, and he could tell she still didn't understand what a son was even though she had managed to work out that it was a person they were waiting on.

"It will take time for his _release_."

"We must wait?" she seemed terribly disappointed by this. "How long?"

"We must wait as long as we must wait."

Obviously not what she was hoping to hear, her shoulders drooped at his unconcerned response. A moment of fidgeting from the girl in front of him, and then she perked up.

"I want to go to look see of this castle!"

"You want to go look at the castle?" he asked with a frown down at her. That was likely a bad idea. On the other hand keeping her near by would likely drive him to distraction with the way she seemed predisposed to bounce around. Images of it taking another couple of hours for his son's return in his head made Guan Yu reluctantly agree to her foolish idea.

"You will not wander far. And you will not be gone long," he ordered in exchange for her freedom to explore.

"Yes, yes Guan Yu. No wander far and not be gone long. I go now then!" she clapped happily and dashed off.

A large hand rose to stroke his long beard in thought as he watched her race away. Where did she come from? Why is she here? And why did she aid him? There were too many questions surrounding her. A complete unknown was a dangerous thing in the middle of a war, but he couldn't help feeling that she was not a threat to himself or to Shu, no matter what powers she had. Even if he did not have complete faith in his instincts on this matter he could not deny that he owed her his life, twice over now: first for his battle with the Wu soldiers and their tiny officer; and then again with the battle with Cao Ren. And for that he resolved to do whatever he could to protect her while she is here in this world.

* * *

**End Notes:** Again this story has yet to be edited so far so I apologize again for any typos and all mistakes are mine. The language difference I am working to resolve so hopefully you'll only have to put up with that for another chapter or so, assuming you're still reading it by then.  
And the quote Rikku was referencing was -"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." by Lewis Carroll from Alice in Wonderland. (Because I love the Cheshire Cat)


	2. Level 2: Journey to Shu

**Title: **A Fantasy Begins- the Legend of Rikku  
**Summary: **A woman from another world has the power to reshape the destiny of China and find love along the way; this is her story- the Legend of Rikku.  
**Disclaimer:**I do not own the DW characters, they are based off of historical figures that now belong to Koei, and the Dynasty Warriors series. The characters of FFX 2 are copyright of Square Enix. I neither claim ownership for any characters that are not my own nor do I make money off this story.  
**Ratings: **PG 13 to possible M as the story progresses  
**Warnings:** AU FFX 2/DW fusion, title is a working title and may change as the story progresses, formatting changes and edits may occur as well, slight violence and possible language as story progresses.

Important Note: _"Words that do not yet have a translation between languages are always italicized and underlined."_

******Level Two: Shu  
Journey to Shu

* * *

**

Wow this place was huge! I wonder what it's used for? Hm, there aren't any altars or statues to Fayths here, so I guess it's not a temple. Although, the only buildings I know of in Spira that come close to this one are the temples, all rough hewn stone. Mostly only the temples and the Ronso used stone in their building. It's just not a cost effective material, you know?

Huh, Guan Ping… he as the same word in his name as Guan Yu. I wonder if they're related. Probably so if Guan Yu was willing to trade with that Cao Ren guy, but I'm still not sure what relation a _'__son__'_ is. I guess I'll have to wait until he gets here. It was going to take a while for this Guan Ping guy that Guan Yu was waiting for to arrive. When Guan Yu managed to explain that, I let him know I wanted to go explore this 'castle'. It must be pretty important for Guan Yu to try and fight that one guy over it. I tried to ask Guan Yu what the castle was for, but I couldn't figure out the words to make the question make sense so I let it go and wandered off after agreeing to return shortly.

Several rooms were stocked with boxes and weapon racks. There were some rooms that had desks with scrolls scattered about. There were rooms with strange low tables surrounded by pouf seats and pillows. And rooms with strange looking beds, or maybe they were lounging chairs? They look pretty comfortable. I did find some neat decorations about the place, some wall hangings and statues. Floor screens with pretty pictures of birds and knobby green sticks. Sometimes there are images of a black and white creature eating the green knobby sticks. They actually look cute and furry. I think I get it; this is a place where people live all in one building. But all those weapons… and all those men fighting. Does that mean it's a sort of soldiers' barracks?

There is one wall in particular that grabs my attention as I'm exploring. It is carved from top to bottom with strange fiends and exotic creatures, but it's none of them that hold my attention. Flying above the others there is a familiar form. A phoenix with wings spread and tail waving behind it. They have _phoenixes_! I'm surprised, in a pleased way to see such a familiar animal when all of the other animals around it seem so strange. Like the one directly below it. It looks like a fiend, a giant snake with sharp talon claws and a head that reminds me of Yunie's Aeons, or maybe some of the more serpentine fiends, but none of them look exactly like this. I wonder if they actually have fiends like this carving here. I glance at the other creatures surrounding it. I hadn't seen any sign of any of these other creatures since I've been here. I glance at the bird above the snake fiend and wonder if the image is proportional. A live phoenix has a wingspan of eight feet and about a twelve foot body length if you _don't _include the tail. Huh, if the snake creature is proportional to the phoenix then that thing is… really freaking big.

I feel a sharp fission of excitement at the thought.

Oh, I'd _love_ to pit Maw against something like that. I learned how to summon my special dress sphere outside of combat and had begun to make additions to it. I haven't taken on any fiends that were strong enough to really try out the improvements I've been making to my Machina Maw. That's why I was digging in the dessert to begin with, you know, before I was distracted by the new spheres. You should totally see the upgrades! Not just new weapons I added a stereo system and some music spheres that we bullied Shinra into making. The music spheres were Buddy's idea really. Buddy said that it would be nice to have something to listen to on board besides Brother. Hee, I jumped all over that idea. Brother acted like he was all hurt over the comment, but a bribe in the form of a recording of Yunie's song from the concert appeased him. Coupled with the expanded weapon system, Maw is now the rockingest Machina in all of Spira! Booyaka!

Oh man! I've been wandering around too long! I better get back to Guan Yu to see if his guy showed up. I turn around and get back to the corridor that split in two directions. Aww, crappy, I can't remember which direction I came from. Well, the wandering around theory worked once, except this time I do have a destination in mind so I'm not sure if that logic, or lack thereof, actually applies this time around. Well, I'll never get back to the main entrance place if I just stand around here. I take a right and start jogging down the hall. I'll either get where I'm going faster or get lost faster; either way at least I won't be bored. At least this time it's not a desert I'm lost in though so it could be worse.

Finally! I recognized a room enough to figure out where I am and I skid back into the room where Guan Yu and a bunch of guys are all standing around. I ignore the way the men in matching uniforms all turn to stare at me. I fix on the young man standing next to my big friend and immediately decide that _'son'_ means that Guan Yu is this boy's father. Guan Yu has a protective hand on the boy's shoulder and is looming over him with a concerned gaze. The look they are sharing, even though they aren't touching beyond that hand on the boy's shoulder…

I know Pops loves me, but I can't remember the last time, if ever, that expressed concern so openly about me. Neither does my brother, now that I think about it. Brother and I aren't terribly close, we haven't been for years. The last time I can remember him trying to protect me was when he nearly fried me with a lightning spell when he was aiming at that fiend when I was little. I travel with him but we don't really talk or hang out and do stuff together. When the Gullwings were a full crew with Yunie and Paine on board he never once worried about me when we came back from dangerous missions. Actually, even after we lost Paine and Yuna and I started taking solo missions for the new spheres he never worried about me.

Something twists painfully in my chest, and I drop my eyes so I don't have to keep watching.

I feel someone approaching and I jerk my head up in automatic reaction. It was Guan Yu's son. And I take the time to study him. He kind of reminds me of Wakka. Hm… maybe it's just the hair. Brown spiky hair held in check with a bandanna, I can empathize with him there. He's wearing deep green robes with plates of armor here and there and the hilt of a large sword is poking up over his shoulder. He is blushing, and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe he's nervous of strangers?

"_Hello__._ My name is Guan Ping. I understand I have you to thank for saving my _father_. I thank you, deeply. If there is ever a need my blade is yours for the _aid_ you gave my _family_ this day."

I don't recognize all of words, but I get what he is saying. I start to try attaching meaning to the words I didn't know before.

"Hello. My name is Rikku," I repeat his greeting back to him. "There was no problem to help next to Guan Yu, to your_father_. I was happy to be fighting with his side."

He gives a small grin at my words. And I feel a moment of panic. Oh no! What if I didn't say that right? What if I mispronounced something and it completely changed the meaning of what I was _trying_ to say? I could have just said something horribly embarrassing, like… I dunno…like offering to sleep with his hypello! Eww, icky!

"I say it wrong way?" I ask in his tongue. Paranoid now I bite my lip and wait for his response. I got the words of that question from the sphere rather than trying to make out what words mean from listening to Guan Yu though so I actually know what they mean, and I'm pretty sure I'm saying them the right way.

His eyes widen and he rushes to respond, "No! No! Father already told me you weren't from our land. I understood what you meant. It's fine. It's good."

"So why did you smile at my saying?" I ask, hesitant.

"It was just the way you speak. I like your _accent_!" He blurted at me.

"I am not understanding what _accent_ means," I admit.

"It's not what you said it's the way you sound when you speak. It's very um… _musical_."

I'm not sure if _musical_ is a good thing but he is trying to be nice to me. I smile my gratitude at his reassurance. At least I know I didn't say anything really unfortunate. What a relief _that_ is!

"Your _eyes_ are-!" the boy blurts out. He stares at my face, not finishing his thought.

"I am not understanding what you mean," I respond. But I can hazard a guess, I think with a mental sigh. He's noticed my eyes. I'm going to have to start wearing my goggles so I don't freak people out.

Guan Yu joins us, "My son, I must_ report _to my _Brother_. I am leaving you in charge of the defense of the castle while I am away. I shall have more _soldiers_ sent to be _stationed_ here as quickly as _possible_."

"Of course father. I will take care of things here. You have much to report to our _Lord_. I wish you safety on your trip."

Guan Yu turns his attention to me. "Rikku, will you come with me to meet my_Brother_? He will want very much to meet you."

Having someone to keep me company and teach me things while I travel?

"Of course!" I bounce on my toes eagerly.

A choking noise comes from my right and I turn to look at Guan Ping.

"Are you well?" I ask, worried about him. His face is really red and he clears his throat.

"Fine," he sounds a bit strangled. I cock my head and look at him. Maybe Guan Ping's getting sick? Guan Yu is stroking his beard with a considering look at his son. He must be concerned about him too. Oh that reminds me!

I should leave some potions here in case Guan Ping gets attacked. Guan Yu thinks some of those other guys might try to sneak back into the castle since they have to know there aren't that many people here. I start mentally shuffling through my inventory and draw several potions and phoenix downs from my item sphere. Proudly I present the bottles to Guan Ping. He's staring at me like I've grown another head. I huff and push them toward him again. When he has the bottles cradled in his arms I pluck two of the potions from his arms and hold the first one up to show the bottle to him.

"This is _Potion_, it fixes hurts. Um… bleeding hurts. This _Phoenix Down_-" I show him the next bottle "-is to stay not dead if you are almost lose life." I place them back into the boy's arms, and he stares at the bottles he's holding with wide eyes. Even Guan Yu seems startled, and is staring at the bottles. As are the soldiers who had nonchalantly been moving closer to pretend they weren't eavesdropping on our conversation. Hehehe! How funny!

Guan Yu would be very sad to lose his son, so it's nothing to give him some of my potions stock. It's not like my inventory wasn't maxed out before I arrived. I did mention that Shinra and I had been working on using the spheres outside of battle right? We were still in the process of experimenting to find out completely what all the spheres were capable and all the ways they could be used. That includes the Alchemist sphere. Took us a while but once we figured out how to use the sphere abilities outside of combat I realized that without rushing through battle you can actually use the sphere to create potion stores fairly easily. And I have a nice stock of elemental attack items laid away as well. Now I never run out of potions and things.

Rin was fuming (which happens so rarely that it's hilarious when he is, by the way) when I explained it to him, but we assured him that Shinra wasn't releasing the dress spheres for general use. That was why that sphere thief Leblanc stole Yunie's after all, she wanted to be able to use dress spheres the way we could. Oh yeah and she wanted to be famous. Anyway, only Yuna and Paine and me will ever be able to understand the full use of garment grids. I just think it's cool that I can always make more items when I need them.

Guan Ping's eyes are still wide when he raises them back to me.

"Is this how you saved my father?"

"Yes. It will keep safe for you, yes?" I respond happily.

* * *

Yeah you know if I understood exactly what traveling with Guan Yu would entail I would have been considerably less eager to do so.

Oh the land is beautiful. I get to ask all sorts of questions when we stop to rest. And the food is good, that is a man who knows how to cook. I haven't even had to track down any of my own food since he's brought his own along. Learning more of the language is fun, even if trying to find matching words in his language can seem exhausting. So why, oh why am I not happy with my current situation? Let me tell you.

My big friend failed to mention that for transportation we would be riding on the back of a tamed, and I use this term loosely, fiend. This thing is big and red, and… _evil_.

The first time we stopped for the night Guan Yu had the temerity to suggest that I help him rub the hateful beast down. Apparently he found it amusing that I was afraid of his riding animal. In order to get me over my fear he suggested that I try to do the brushing. He assured me it wouldn't eat me when I asked him about it- repeatedly and with many doubtful looks. Finally I moved closer to it with the hard bristly brush that he had provided for me to brush its coat with.

'_Ow! That hurt!' _

I really couldn't say how our altercation escalated to the beast rearing on his hind legs or how I ended up with my spear pointed at it.

"Rikku! No!" Guan Yu yelled. Brave man, he jumped between the two of us with his own blade held as an extra barrier. I banished my spear into the weapons slot of my item sphere (where did you think we kept our weapon when we weren't in combat?) to let him know I wasn't going to kill the monster no matter how much it may deserve it. He lowered his own weapon and with his free hand grabbed the reigns of Red Hare and began to speak soothing words to try and get it calmed down. It continued to tremble and stamp its feet. Its eyes rolled like it was possessed. It just might be possessed. _That_ would explain a lot. I glower at it.

"I asked you to brush it, not _impale_ it with your spear! What were you doing?" Guan Yu demanded when he got the horrid thing as calm as it was capable of being.

"It tried to eats me! You said it wouldn't eats me!" I accused, cradling my injured fingers to my chest.

"It's a war horse. You shouldn't put your hand close to its mouth if you don't know what you're doing. They're_ trained_ to kick and bite to aid their riders in close combat," he explained patiently. As patiently as one can when speaking through clenched teeth at any rate.

"War horse? It fights? Why you didn't tell me we were riding a… a _fiend_!"

"_Fiend_?" he asks, confused.

Apparently I have no words that can explain what a fiend is. The monsters of my world were so varied and the logic behind what they were? Oh this explanation was not working. I stared at him helplessly. Guan Yu's didn't understand when I tried to explain to him what a fiend was. _He_ calls it a horse. I call it Evil. And there is nothing that will convince me to like it. Believe me when I say the feeling is mutual. That _thing_ has it in for me. When I try to tell Guan Yu about his horse fiend's thirst for my blood he simply laughs and says "Well Red Hare can be bit more _temperamental_ than most. That is, he can be hard to get along with at times, if you don't know how to handle him."

So Guan Yu's people capture these fiends and train them so that they are capable of doing damage even while you are fighting. This is actually pretty clever. Kind of like chocobo knights or me with my Machina Maw; except Maw is cute and _awesome_. This thing stares at me with these beady black eyes just waiting for me to get close enough to try to kill me again. I swear to you it was trying to rip my arm off that first night! Guan Yu won't believe me when I say that his horse fiend is plotting to kill us but one of these days he's going to wake up dead from having his brains bashed in by the wicked thing and then I'll be telling him that I told him so. So _there_!

And riding it? You know getting anywhere near a vicious brute is an unnerving experience, but being _on _it…? Guan Yu got tired of my refusal to get near it and hauled me up on the saddle with him the first time he wanted to leave. He's had to do that every time he's wanted to travel fast because I'm certainly not getting up on that hard stiff saddle of that monster voluntarily. The thing that passes for a saddle among Guan Yu's people is stiff leather and nothing like the soft, feathered back of a chocobo. Speaking of which, where _are _all the chocobos? I never thought I'd say this after having ridden the Celsius or hovers but I _miss _them.

You don't walk away from a chocobo ride feeling like you were in a game of blitz ball- one where you were the ball. And they're really sweet and friendly when you catch one too. They have a nice side to side swaying motion when they run, and they have soft wings that come up on either side and keep you from falling off. They're closer to the ground so if you somehow _do_ manage to fall off there is less chance of injury. The monster that we are riding has this unnatural gate, front and back and up and down. Now I have bruises in places that I never even knew I was capable of bruising. Owie. But the biggest difference is that I have never had a chocobo try to rip my head off with its beak. I mean, not after you've caught it anyway.

Do you know after that first night he actually kept trying to teach me how to take _care_ of that beast? I had to explain to him that I kill monsters like the horse fiend and I shouldn't be responsible for the care and upkeep of something I'm predisposed to take out. Guan Yu let it go after that. But finally, after what was probably a bit more than a week's travel we arrived at the edge of a city. It could have been less or more than that, it's gotten hard for me to keep track of time of late. Apparently we would have arrived sooner but my refusal to ride his Red Hare slowed our progress. By that time I was getting almost used to the Red Hare and we had settled into a comfortably sullen dislike for each other. I didn't raise my weapon whenever it looked at me now and the attempts on my life had eased up. Maybe in a few years I can be convinced to actually brush him again or something. Unless I can avoid him completely and never see him again. This is a much more preferable alternative. And the horse fiend, I think, would agree.

We get off the horse fiend and Guan Yu takes the reigns and leads it behind him. It's odd. I spent weeks wandering around the forest alone, now that we've reached a city I'd rather not be around people. They're all staring at us. I shrink closer to Guan Yu. He's really big, I wonder if I snuck behind him and walked in his shadow if no one would notice me. I flick a glance over my shoulder to gauge where his shadow is- yeah too freaking close to Red Hare for my comfort, eh heh heh. I'll just, um, stay up here and get stared at thanks. Although I'd really like to know _why_ they are staring, I'm dressed in the same colors as Guan Yu, so my clothes fit in here, right? At least back home I knew if strangers were staring at me it was because I was an Al Bhed. Here I'm different enough to be stared at but I'm not completely sure why. It makes me nervous.

I tug on the green sleeve of his robe, "Guan Yu, they look at us.

"Rikku, you look very different from anyone they have ever seen. That is why they stare."

"I am not the same. So they do not hate I am not the same? Am I not safe?"

"How do you mean?" Guan Yu frowns down at me.

"Not safe with them? No… um, I mean to say not safe_ from_ them?"

"Of course you're safe. No one here would dare harm you," he speaks as he always does in his grand announcement style. I probably sound silly asking for reassurance that they aren't going to attack me, but I've had some experiences back home, especially before the Calm that make me nervous about standing out in a crowd. All I want is to know that no is going to take one look at me and decide I need to be shanked. I give him a hesitant grin. There are several bows and nods of agreement on hearing his words, and many people hurry to clear the street before us. Huh? Maybe it's not just me they're staring at after all. Maybe it's Guan Yu who everyone is staring at. He's really big and I guess he seems kind of intimidating… you know, in a big teddy bear sort of way.

We wind our way through the city. I study the people in turn as we continue on our way. They are all so different from anything I've ever known. I can tell some color with my goggles on but mostly I can tell the difference from the shade of the material. Their clothes are made of drab colors. I can make out faded greens, purples and grays, with little hints of bright bold color here and there among the shop pavilions and the apparently higher ranked people. At least they seem more important. It's not just the way they dress with more layers and brighter colors; it's the way the simple clothed people react to them. All of the important people seem to have layers. So, my clothes show I have no rank then? Well, I'm not from around here; of course I don't have any rank.

I continue to reassure myself in this vein as we make our way along the streets, and soon enough I am cheerfully bouncing along at Guan Yu's side asking questions about everything we pass. There are little kids playing in the street and guards walking on patrol. And there are open stalls with food and bright over hangings to protect their wares. Some women in pretty dresses are gathered in a small huddle gossiping and are keeping an eye on the children. Is it just me or does everyone here seem to have dark hair? Over there are some men loading up these strange carts with only two wheels and no evil fiends to pull them. I wonder how that works. Ooh! That guy has to pull it himself? But that looks so _heavy_! An old man creeks by with a walking stick and another man takes his arm to help him up the steps of the building he was angling for. Guan Yu tries to tell me a bit about the building. It turns out that was some sort of temple place and the old man is likely going there to pray. So they _do _have temples here. I wonder what kind of Fayth they worship.

Finally we arrive at what seems to be our destination. It's a big building made of wood with large doors, and there are bales of straw scattered around the fenced area extending out behind it. A stable of some sort then? I trot happily along behind him until I step through the open doors and stop dead. Rows and rows of them stretch before my gaze- _horse fiends_. I'm sure my eyes must be the size of saucers behind the lenses of my goggles and I don't even bother trying to keep the horror off of my face when I turn to look at Guan Yu. This feels like the ultimate betrayal! He knows I can't _stand_ horse fiends! I've had enough of the _one_ I've had to put up with for the last Spira only knows how long, and now he leads me into a_ stable_ of them?

He chuckles at my reaction! Actually _chuckles_! I draw my eyebrows together into my fiercest frown, wrinkles be damned and when that proves insufficient I spit out a string of Al Bhed obscenities. It's rare that I swear, but…. Argghhh! Taste my RAGE, Guan Yu!

"Calm yourself, Rikku," he rumbles with amusement. "We're just here so that you no longer have to ride on Red Hare. This way we can actually make decent time. We need to get to my _Brother_and get some men sent back to Fan. You won't have to ride on Red Hare and these horses aren't trained to fight. In fact you won't even have to ride on a horse at all. I'm hiring a _cart_ for use."

I pause my tirade to consider his words.

"I will not ride the horse fiends?" I ask him suspiciously.

"My word of honor," he answers. His attempt at a solemn tone is ruined completely by the amusement dancing in his dark eyes. I huff and cross my arms over my chest, but I can't hold out against his look and I feel my lips start to tremble into a completely involuntary smile. It's a curse I tell you. No matter how angry I am if someone starts smiling at me I can't help cracking a smile right back. Giving into the giggles threatening to escape, I nod my agreement.

"Fine. I will ride this _cart_ you are getting, as long as I don't have to ride your horse fiend anymore."

I notice the man staring at us from beside a fence, the man that Guan Yu had begun to speak with before I had my moment.

"Eh heh heh,… erm… Hello?" I give him a big sheepish grin. I dip my head to hide my blush. Having been raised around rather rough and tumble males there's really not a lot of things that make me blush but I've just added a new one to my list.

Guan Yu says something too rapidly to follow, and the startled man tilts his head back to stare up at my once more friend (yes I've already forgiven him for bringing me into a building full of horse fiends). His alarmed look fades into one of humor and he gestures, a wide sweep of his arm toward the back of the stable. I crane my head to look, but I don't see what he's pointing out. Guan Yu nods his head in agreement to something the small man says.

"Rikku, stay here please. I will be back in a _moment_."

I open my mouth, arguments springing instantly to the tip of my tongue, but then I remember the horse fiends. I'd have to pass by them all if I wanted to go with him to the back of the stable. I sweep the lot of them with a dark look. I nod to the two men and settle my back against the wall beside the door without a word.

See? I can be taught new tricks.

The two of them wander off and within minutes I am bored half out of my mind. I slide down the wall to sit on the ground and I start to go through my garment grids to keep myself entertained. It's turned out to be easier for me to simply keep wearing my Shu dress sphere, because for some reason when I wear it, the words that I hear seem to make sense, like it's easier to learn the language of Guan Yu's people. I guess it's one of the status effects of the sphere, like dark proof or sleep resistance. So that makes it more practical to equip lore accessories that will allow me to tap my job class skills rather than waste the time it would take to completely change from say the Shu to the Black Mage. This is great because this way I don't have to change into a Black Mage outfit every time I want to cast a spell, and I can keep wearing my Shu sphere. I haven't had to change since arriving at the castle fight.

My not having to change is helped by the fact that all of the garment grids have been inlaid with an automatic item sphere. Shinra made sure that when we shifted grids we would be able to transfer our items with them so we could access our stores as we need them. He's a clever boy our Shinra. Actually, I haven't had to change my garment grid either; I've just kept Supreme Light equipped. One of my absolute favorite garment grids. With this garment grid equipped I can tap all of my White Magic spells without even having to carry the White Mage dress sphere on the grid: not to mention I can use Auto-life if I ever take massive damage and I can use Holy magic if I cycle through enough nodes. It's the little things you know?

My hands trace the nodes on my grids and I begin to place my unused spheres into empty slots. You know, I hadn't really thought about it too hard, but Guan Yu was really startled the first time I used my fire spell to light a fire when we stopped for the night. I didn't even make it a big one. I've learned how to control the size within the strength range of the spells I know. I mean, I can direct and contain the force of the spells I cast now. Darn it, I know what I mean. But still… I haven't seen anyone else use any magic yet. And the way everyone reacted to the items I gave Guan Ping? It was weird. Does that mean that this land doesn't sell recovery items? What do they do when they get hurt? And what… what does that mean about me? I mean if just these couple of things I can do freak them out, then what if they find out what else I can do? Will they be afraid of me? I was worried that people wouldn't like me because I look different, but what if they don't like me because they're afraid of what I can do?

I bite my lip at the thought. Maybe I shouldn't use my other spheres or lores unless I really need them? I mean, Guan Yu already knows about my magic and my items, so I can keep using them, but I probably shouldn't say… bust out my Gunner sphere again unless it becomes necessary. I mean, I know I used it at Fan Castle to chase those guys in the red outfits off of Guan Yu, but I haven't seen anybody else with any guns around here. And those red guys were seriously freaked out by a little gun fire. What a way to seriously stick out. Ok then, I'll only use my dress spheres if I really need them, and I'll only use the garment grids with subtle abilities if I have to change them. There! That should make it easier to fit in. Well as much as possible when I'm a skinny little blond with weird goggley eyes as far as everyone else is concerned.

I let my spare garment grids fall from my fingers and my item sphere catches them in the accessories section with a swirl of white light. Then I let my head fall into my hands as the reality of my situation slams home. Hehe, get it? Home? Ok lameness, I know. I couldn't be farther from home and everyone I love. And worse, I am powerful. I shiver at the thought. I mean I guess I was powerful back home, but there were always things out there that were more powerful. Oh I miss Spira, I miss my friends. I miss being even less of a freak than I am now. I even kind of miss my family, weird as that thought is. This is horrible. Even if I'm making new friends and learning the language, I could lose them if my suspicions are right.

"Rikku, I have the _cart_ ready to go," Guan Yu's voice interrupts my self pity party. Which is probably a good thing because pitying myself more for having powers than for having been torn away from everything I've ever known is a bit weird now that I think about it. Well no use worrying about it right now. I could just be working myself up over nothing. Yeah that's probably it. I just miss my home and that's making everything seem worse than it is. That's all. I give a sharp nod, confirming the thought. I pop to my feet and give myself a little bounce to perk myself up.

He frowns down at me.

"What is wrong?"

"Wrong?" I blink up at him.

"You seemed to be upset about something when I came in."

"No, it is nothing." I wave away his concern. "I had a moment of thinking about where I am from. I am not like people here; it makes me miss where I am most the same. I miss where I am from."

"You are _homesick_," he says with an understanding look.

"_Homesick_," I repeat dutifully, agreement lacing my tone. "There is nothing to do for it to be fixed. So it is not happy to think on it. Now! Let us see this _cart_!" I bounce again and wave my hands animatedly.

"Very well." He strokes his beard and turns to lead the way outside. I can't control my giggle at the gesture but I follow after him.

Oh! So that is what _cart_ means! It's a sort of wagon. One of the horse fiends is attached to the front. Guan Yu climbs up into the driver's seat. The Red Hare's reigns are attached to the side of the wagon in a sort of leash way so that he doesn't have to stay terribly close to the wagon (thankfully) but he can't wander off to eat small children (thankfully). And that leaves me in the back unless I want to get closer to the horse fiends than I have to be. So I clamber up into the back of the cart. There is some sort of hay lacing the bottom; I guess that's for the horses while we travel? Except there's no blood for Red Hare to drink so maybe the hay is just to sit on. I'm about to plop myself down when Guan Yu tosses his traveling cloak into the back with me. I thank him and spread it out over the hay and settle down so that I'm close to the front of the cart so I can talk with him while he's driving.

This is much better. What a much more civilized way to travel than bouncing around on the back of a horse fiend.

We spent a few more days on the road. It's been okay really. Things have been calm since we've started riding on the cart. Somehow though, the past couple of days I've been kind of tired. I guess the stress is finally catching up to me a bit. Man I thought I would kill for a bed and a bathroom complete with indoor plumbing when I first got here. Now? I've never felt my mouth water over anything other than food, but the thought of a nice room to sleep in is enough to make me positively salivate with longing.

Mmmm, a big tub where I'm able to soak as long as I want? That would be heaven. Maybe I'd put out candles to light the room while I relax. There would be big fluffy towels waiting for me when I'm ready to get out. And when I got out there would be a nice comfy bed with feather pillows instead of scratchy straw to sleep on… Oooh, I don't think I'd even bother getting dressed, I'd slowly dry myself off and slide between the sheets. I'd just lay there and enjoy feeling the cool material against my nice clean skin. I'd have used some of my favorite bubble bath and body wash when I was in the tub, so I'd get to go to sleep surrounded with the soft scent of vanilla and honey. Or maybe I'd use the cherry almond or, or one of the other bottles I have stocked in my item sphere. Yeah, I'd use something sweet and soothing while I get to luxuriate in the feeling of a soft mattress beneath my body.

I guess I must have fallen asleep because I wake up to the sound of a crowd of voices all exclaiming. I lay there on my uncomfortable bed of hard wood covered in scratchy straw and wrapped in the big folds of my friend's cloak. Eugh. I should have just stayed asleep. I can see beyond the hood that I pulled up over my head when I lay down that evening enough to see that it's gotten pretty dark. It was still light when I settled down earlier. I shift my arms but I'm a bit tangled. I still and just listen to the voices. Such a mix of emotions: tearful happiness; relief; joy that trembled at the edges with grief. The sound of a reunion where the family and friends were worried for their loved one's safety.

I feel my eyes sting with tears. I'm happy for him that he has so many people to care so deeply for him. I've never… no one has ever acted like that for me before, not even when I was little. They are all speaking over each other and I can hear Guan Yu's name. Actually I can hear Guan Yu's voice speaking to them, asking worried questions. He sounds a bit confused by the display, but heartened that his friends are so worried about him. I blink rapidly, ignoring the snake that wriggles upward through my stomach to wrap around my heart and flick its tongue against my lungs. It hurts my throat to breathe.

I turn my head into the straw, letting the scent fill my nose through the thick material of the cloak. I clench my eyes shut but I force my muscles to relax, one by one. Finally, finally I relax my jaw and the muscles of my face. My chest loosens and I'm able to take slow deep breaths. A meditation that teaches stillness in one's body, and seeks peace in one's heart. I learned this from my mother when I was little, before she died. I have family who care about me. That they aren't here doesn't change the fact that they care. They may not show it like Guan Yu's people, but I know that they must be worried about me. I'm certainly worried about them.

Honestly what are the Gullwings going to do without me now? Yunie and Paine probably won't rejoin them. Pops is back to rebuilding Home with the rest of the Al Bhed. It took him a while to get back on track, but he's given up on the Zanarkand Ruins and back to being the Elder. Buddy tends the Celsius; Shinra's a techno geek even by Al Bhed standards, and Brother… Well he can fight, but he's not the greatest. To be perfectly honest, his aim hasn't really improved since we were children. Since the three of them can't really hunt spheres by themselves I really do wonder what they're going to do without me.

"-Rikku saved my life, and then she helped me _capture_ Fan Castle. She also left healing _potions _with Guan Ping to help keep his men safe until _reinforcements_ arrive. We all owe her a great _debt_," Guan Yu pronounces loudly. I guess he's finished calming his crew down; well that's probably my cue. I manage to untangle my legs enough to stand, which I do with a groan. Oww-crick in neck- ow! I tilt my head until my neck pops, and the hood slips farther down my head until it flops down over my face.

"Nothing is owed. It was no problem to be helping Guan Yu. I am happy to be fighting next to your side," I correct him with some asperity. Really, how many times do I have to try to explain to him that it was no big deal, helping him out? I try to put my hands on my hips to stare down at him, but I didn't realize that I'm still standing on the edge of the cloak and the hood is still half blinding me. It turns out this is a bad combination because when I try to shift my weight I loose my balance. My arms windmill and I tumble over the side of the cart and hit the ground with a painful thump. Ow! Ow!-bruise on butt- Owww!

I rub my abused posterior. The hood fell back when I landed and I can see (sort of) so I glance up to a sea of gaping faces. It's too dark to get more than vague impression of lots of white and a dark color that is probably green and beards, and yeah… The goggles aren't helping a bit here. I mean all Al Bhed have great eye sight, which is why we can wear goggles even at night, but even I can't see very much with everyone standing with their backs to the lanterns that are casting light over us. I give them all an unsure grin and wave.

"Hello, my name is Rikku!" I chirp out.

This seems to be a cue of some sort because one man from the group detaches from the crowd and comes forward to offer me a hand. I accept it and he helps draw me to my feet. That's so nice! This close I can make out more of the man's face, he's an attractive middle aged man with a trimmed goatee and kind air about him. He's wearing some sort of armor and a helmet with white plumes sprouting from the top. If layers and fancy clothes signify importance then he must be very important.

"_Greetings_ to you, Rikku. On _behalf_ of Shu I, Liu Bei, thank you for the aid you offered us. And I _personally_ thank you for saving the life of my _sworn brother_."

"Why do people keep seem to be so surprised that I help? It was not a big fight at the castle, and I have much-" I hesitate for a moment before correcting myself- "have many restore items to share. I am happy to help Guan Yu and Guan Ping. Wait- _Brother_? You are Guan Yu's_ Brother_? He wanted me to see with you. Um, he wanted me to meet with you," I correct myself and bounce in pleasure at my improvement. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this language thing. Just a few more years and I might actually be fluent or something.

"Yes, I did wish for you all to meet Rikku," Guan Yu steps in and addresses the watching crowd, "however it's been a long journey and I know that Rikku has been wanting to have a bedroom to stay in for some time now. Perhaps the _introductions_ can wait until we're all rested?"

"Of course. You both must be _exhausted_ from your journey. Forgive me for not thinking of it myself!" this Liu Bei man exclaims. As he speaks a waiting servant rushes forward from the shadows and I jump at the sudden appearance of a young woman at my elbow.

"Please show _Lady_ Rikku to a _guest_ room. Bring a tray of food for her and make sure that a tub of hot water is _prepared_ while she eats, and that the bed is ready for her. She is to be treated as any _honored guest_."

I was about to protest that a big fuss isn't necessary, but I got caught on the words food, bath, and bed. Food is a low third on that list, but I think I may have slept through supper time, so a snack wouldn't hurt. But a bath and a bed! I've been fantasizing for days now.

"I can have bath? And a bed to sleep in for?" I ask in a pathetically hopeful voice that startles chuckles out of several of the onlookers. I can be clean and nice place to sleep for a change? Ha, laugh all you want, if I get a bed and a bath, I couldn't care less.

"Go on Rikku. I must _report_ what happened, but you should get some rest. You can meet everyone else in the morning," Guan Yu, nudges me gently toward the waiting servant. She bows at me and turns to lead the way, and I follow eagerly after. Several times as we wind our ways through the halls I trip on the hem of Guan Yu's cloak, but I eventually grab large folds of it in my fists so that I don't biff it and keep trooping along after her. I'll have to remember to give it back to him later.

Soon we arrive in a room and the servant girl bows to me once more. Wow, these people sure like to bow a lot. So I bow back and smile at her. She is a pretty little thing (a little bit shorter than I am even) with big brown eyes and two ponytail braids of matching brown. She's probably a couple of years younger than me. She looks baffled.

"My name is Rikku. What name is yours?" I ask curiously. I walk into the room into the room and stare around. The room is done predominantly in greens and blues with dark wood furniture and carpets in various shades scattered about the wooden floors. Paper lanterns and some candles light the room. There is a large fire place but it's not cold enough to have any fires lit at the moment. There is a bookshelf filled with books with strange characters marking some of the spines. Most are simply bare except for the dark covers. There's a large bed in the center of the room, it's low to the ground but piled with pillows and blankets. In the corner is a bath tub partially hidden behind a beautifully painted screen. My eyes light up the second they land on it. I spin around with a big grin to see the servant girl staring at me with a look of open fascination on her face. Well, I guess I do seem odd around here. The minute she sees that I am looking back at her (just as curiously, mind you) she drops her gaze to the floor.

"My name is Lin Lixue, _Lady_ Rikku."

"Lin Lixue. That is pretty for a name. Well thanks to you for leading me to this room. It is pretty. I am liking it very much, yes?"

She draws her brows together at me, an uncertain look on her face. Aw come on, I know I didn't mess up what I was saying _that_ time!

"Did you not want a bath to be _drawn _for you, Lady Rikku?"

"Want a bath _drawn _for me?" I repeat, mystified. I really don't get that one. There is a knock on the door before I can try to think of a response. Lin Lixue scuttles over to the door. Soon a couple of servants dressed in the green and grey apparently favored among the staff of the place we're at came through the door with large wooden buckets. I stare. What the? They shuffle in with their buckets, careful not to spill anything. Soon they are pouring water in the large tub.

Oh my goodness! If it's the two of them and they're filling the tub like that then… Oh that's so not necessary! I squawk in protest when I realize they plan on fill up the bath by hauling buckets back and forth. I startle one of the men and he nearly sloshes water on the floor but the other servant helps him steady his large bucket in time. Both the men and the serving girl stare at me.

"Sorry, sorry!" I raise my hands and take a deep breath. "That is not needed. I can make my own bath. It is too much a problem for you to carry water," I try to clarify.

The three of them continue to stare at me.

In explanation I walk over to the tub and shove the material trailing over my hands up until it's bunched up by my elbows. I hold my palms over the tub. A moment of concentration and then I cast, "_Water!_"

The three of them fall back in shock.

"Um… see?" I announce brightly to cover my sudden nerves. Again I forgot that these people aren't used to magic. "I can make my own bath. You don't have to work extra and carry water."

Lin Lixue is the first to recover.

"Lady Rikku is too kind in thinking of us," she says faintly. There is awe on her face as she stares at the full tub. "Truly she is deserving of respect."

Then she bows low. A sharp glance at the men from the corner of her eyes makes the men follow her example. The two also bow deeply and speak soft words that may be thanks, or entreaties for their lives. Considering the fear that had flashed in their eyes when they saw me cast, I was betting on the latter. Of course, hopefully that had eased somewhat now that they know I meant them no harm. Hurriedly the men make their excuses to leave and pick up their buckets. They made several bows as they backed toward the door, and a very quick escape.

I sigh. "They are fear of me."

Lin Lixue shakes her head.

"They are _impressed_ by your power. They are _doubtlessly_ running down to the kitchens this moment to tell all of them about what they just _witnessed_. By now there is not a single person in this castle who is not speaking about the safe return of Lord Guan Yu, and the _foreign girl_ who saved his life. By morning there will not be a single person in this castle who has not heard of your _magic_. There were several of us who gathered to see what the _commotion_ was about and _witnessed _his return. _According_ to the _messenger_ who reported on the battle of Fan Lord Guan Yu fell in battle."

"Eh? He _did_ fall!" I inform her in remembered irritation. "He was _freaking heavy_ too! And it took me a _phoenix down_ and _ten_ whole _hi-potions_ to fix him."

She blinks at my reaction. Apparently she can't think of a response to what I'm saying. Or she doesn't understand what I'm saying. I can't be bothered to expound on the experience. My back aches just thinking about how much that man weighs. Even with my Berserker sphere it was a major struggle to get him out of the rain.

"If Lady Rikku would like to bathe I will have food _readied_ for when you are finished."

"I… That will be nice to do for me. My thanks to you, Lin Lixue."

"I heard what Lord Guan Yu said of you, about you saving his life. Seeing the _magic_ you wield… I believe him. Your thanks are not necessary. We do owe you a great _debt_."

"People keep speaking of owed. It is not right. I am owed nothing."

"As you say _Lady_ Rikku. Perhaps with your _magic_ you may not think it a great deal, but you saved the life of our Lord's _brother_. What you have done is greater than you realize. Please don't _trivialize_ it, because his life is worth a great deal to all of us."

This time it's my turn to be unable to really think of a response to what she's saying. Abruptly I change the subject.

"I am going to bath now, please."

With another graceful bow she backed away and quietly slipped from the room. The moment she's gone I groan and face palm. Way to keep a low profile Rikku. Well there's no help for it now. If these people weren't gossiping about me now, those people from the Fan Castle would be, so it's not exactly like my entrance allowed for a low profile. Guan Yu had explained a bit more about the war that was going on around here. Will it even be possible _not_ to end up using my dress spheres to help them? No, not likely. If I can help my friends then that's what I'll do, even if it means crashing a party that isn't mine.

My eyes land on the large tub. I've never seen a tub like this before. This is made of a warm golden brown wood. It had a high curved back perfect for leaning against that sloped down to slightly lower sides. Beside the tub was a small wooden stool. On top of the stool was a carefully folded robe and a few small squares of a soft material. Hand towels? They don't use regular towels? Aw man. Huh… well two out of three isn't bad and I _am_ being fed. I'll take it. I shrug off the cloak and with no place better to put it I toss it over the screen. With my hands free I'm able to shove them into the cool water and a minute later my underwater fira spell has heated the bath to a lightly steaming temperature. Perfect, I purr happily to myself as I set about hurriedly stripping off my grid. Green cloth disappears completely in a shimmer of soft light. I summon my washing supplies and my brush from my item sphere and set them down on the little space I made beside the little towels.

I slide into the warm water and let myself sink until the water is up to my chin. Leaning my head back against the high back of the tub I close my eyes. I know I'll have to work on unbraiding and untangling my hair sometime before I get out of the tub but right now I can't be bothered to care.

_Bliss. _

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End Notes:

I did have a little more than this ready but my computer ate it, as well as the work I had done on some of my other fics. The language thing will be at least partially resolved within the next chapter, along with explanations and speculations. 


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